Change brings out best in Dorsey

Cape Breton guard Jimmy Dorsey battles St. Francis Xavier forward Jeremy Dunn at the AUS men’s basketball tournament last March in Halifax. Dorsey is having another MVP season and has the Capers at 8-0. (TED PRITCHARD / Staff)

A few years back, Jimmy Dorsey was a gifted freshman guard at Maryland’s Howard Community College. The native of Westminster, Md., wasn’t happy, and wasn’t getting his work done in the classroom.

He knew he needed a change and some NCAA schools, most notably George Mason and Binghamton, wanted him. But his junior college coach was former Dalhousie Tigers guard Benny Edison, another Baltimore-area native, and Edison knew where an American could go to find a sense of community and change the direction of his life.

A call went out to Jim Charters, a former Dalhousie coach and the Cape Breton Capers head coach of the day.

Dorsey, in consultation with his mother, made a decision that would change his life. He became a member of the Cape Breton Capers without knowing a soul in the area.

“I just had to get out of the U.S.,” he said. “I just had to get a new look. It ended up working out.”

He said Edison, who has sent a string of Americans to the AUS, was the key to the whole story.

“Over that year, we got close because he loves basketball as much as I do,” Dorsey said. “He wanted the best for me and he understood my situation. He knew what I needed more than I did. I was really blessed.”

In a conference known for great guard play, the 23-year-old Dorsey is moving into legend status in his final year in the CIS.

He was the 2011-12 AUS most valuable player and a first-team all-Canadian, averaging better than 23 points per game. On a young team this year, he has helped CIS fifth-ranked CBU to an 8-0 record with more than 25 points per game, ranking him second in the country.

With a hand injury that was expected to force him out of the lineup for at least a game or two, he scored 26 points as the Capers rallied from 13 points behind at the half to win at St. Francis Xavier on Tuesday.

“It’s just the urgency of wanting to win the CIS,” said Dorsey. “In the other years, you always took for granted that you had next year. This summer I really took the time to think that there is no next year.”

Even Cape Breton didn’t know what to expect when the new season began. Dorsey was the only fifth-year player and the remaining starters were a junior, two sophomores and a freshman.

He credits first-year head coach Matt Skinn for bringing together the pieces of a championship contender. Shaquille Keith, for one, may be top rookie in the nation.

“Great credit to him (Skinn) and (athletic director) John Ryan and everybody else who has put this together. He (Skinn) brought in some veterans and some newcomers that have some years (of eligibility), so this team is going to be good for the next couple of years, not just this one.”

Dorsey suffered through bad knees last season, but changed his off-season routines to take some of the strain off his body. He took two months off and had more energy toward the end of the summer.

Skinn knew that when he got the job from interim head coach Thom Gillespie that Dorsey gave him a special player.

“His focus and attitude on a daily basis, and that’s something I talk about with all the players, is something he really embraced,” said Skinn, a former CBU player. “He really prepared himself well for the season as far as getting his body and mind ready. I feel he’s playing the best basketball of his career and I would think he’d say the same thing.”

At the mid-point of the schedule, Dorsey has MVP numbers. On top of his scoring, he has averaged five rebounds and four assists, makes 90.9 per cent of his free throws and leads the CIS in steals.

But there are other AUS players having great seasons and Dorsey’s push for a second MVP may depend on how the Capers, 13-2 against all CIS opponents, finish in the standings.

Skinn took the diplomatic route on where Dorsey ranks in the AUS, or CIS for that matter. “I feel everyday that I have the opportunity to coach one of the best players in the country and that’s basically how I see it.”

Cape Breton plays Memorial twice this weekend in Sydney before hosting third-ranked Acadia for a critical two-game set next weekend.

Dorsey said he hopes to play professionally and will seek that opportunity next year. If the pros don’t work out, he’d like to coach.